The Study On Modern Korean Anarchist Literature

After the March 1st Movement in 1919,Anarchism,as a social thought,was formally accepted by the Korean intelligentsia.It not only had an important impact on the political field of Korea,but also penetrated into many fields of society as an ideological concept,and had a profound influence on literature and art.According to the historical development of Anarchism in modern Korean literature,it can be roughly divided into three stages:the early stage(1919 to 1927),the middle stage(1927 to around 1933),and the late stage(1933 to 1945).During this period,Korean Anarchistic gradually became associated with literature,and Anarchist literature experienced a holistic development process from its emergence,development,and decline.The depth of Anarchism’s influence on literature and the degree of interaction between the two have also evolved from a partial and superficial impact at the beginning,to a growing influence later on,and gradually penetrated into the internal structure of the literary world,and ultimately exerted a more important influence on the modern Korean literature.This thesis aims to holisticly review the modern Korean Anarchist literature,focusing on related literary works created by representative Anarchists of the period and literary writers who were influenced by Anarchism,expanding the discussion around the literary critical theory characteristics,consciousness tendencies of the works,etc.And observe the modern Korean Anarchist literature comprehensively and systematically.Firstly,this thesis provides a new definition of the concept,connotation and standard scope of "Anarchist literature",and gives an overview of the development of Anarchism in modern Korean literature and the development of modern Korean Anarchist literature.Explain the emergence and development process of Anarchism,and discusses the relevance between Anarchism and literature from three aspects:"the temperament of resistance against power and authority","the value pursuit of freedom and individuality" and "emotional and utopian aesthetic orientation",revealing that literature has the consciousness characteristics of Anarchism,and Anarchism has the aesthetic characteristics of literature,laying the foundation for the overall argument of the thesis.Secondly,using the historic research perspective of literature and art,combining the methods of literary aesthetics,examine the literary criticism and review articles of Yu Ki-seok,Kwon Goo-hyeon,Sin Chae-ho,Lee Hyang,Kim Hwa-san,Choi Seo-hae,etc.Expound the critical theoretical characteristics of modern Korean Anarchist literature such as populism,vitalism and resistance from three aspects:historical subject attributes,natural essence attributes and social value attributes of literature,showing the progressiveness of Anarchist literature at that time.Thirdly,examines the poetry,prose,essays,novels and other various literary works of the Anarchists in Korea.From the views of "their realistic writing of modern capitalism and imperialist colonial aggression from the perspective of the people;stand on the side of the people who were oppressed and dominated by power,and pay attention to class and national contradictions,focusing on the thought strategy to integrate the two;as well as the yearning for natural order and laws,the will to return to nature,and the admiration for the life force of nature" to clarify the negative consciousness,resistance consciousness and natural consciousness embodied in the literary creations.In addition,by examining the representative Anarchistic literary creations of Sin Chae-ho,Yu Ki-seok,Jo So-ang,Kim San,Yu Ja-myong and others who carried out revolutionary movements as Anarchists in China during the same period,it is revealed that the characters in the works influenced by Anarchism in the early stage were individual and dispersed righteous heroes,and later transformed into popular revolutionary subjects,as well as the later Anarchists’ reflection on the revolutionary struggle lines,which clarified the writer’s dynamic changes of thought before and after.Finally,based on the above discussion,we make a comprehensive and objective evaluation of the status and value of Anarchism and its literature in the history of modern Korean literature,the history of literary exchanges between China and Korea,and the history of the Korean independence movement.First,from the perspective of literary history,Anarchist literature neither indulged in the formulated class literature of the Marxist literary school at that time,always paying attention to the realistic destiny of the nation,nor did it indulge in the tradition of the nationalist school that blindly flaunted retroism in literary culture,there is constant emphasis on getting close to and entering the real life of the people at the bottom,providing another option and outlet for the development of modern Korean literature,and has integrated and become an important part of the construction of left-wing literature and Korean anti-Japanese literature in the form of the "third literature of resistance struggle".In addition,modern Korean Anarchists think about the essential issues of literature and art from the perspective of the natural essence of people and art,emphasize the spontaneity and independence of literature,and regard literature and art as a independent system that is not subject to any external control.Actively constructing a new theoretical system of Anarchist literature and art,it played a certain warning and corrective role in the phenomenon that the mainstream discourse in the Korean literary world at that time was gradually becoming unified and the consciousness of literary purpose strongly advocated by some radical Marxist literati,which was beneficial to Korean literature’ self-development,thus reflecting its special historical significance.Second,judging from the history of cultural exchanges between China and Korea,as an international trend of thought,Anarchism has spread and influenced many countries around the world.Its ideas such as "mutual assistance" and"international solidarity" have become an important spiritual source for unity and cooperation among modern East Asian intellectuals and revolutionaries,especially the oppressed and weak nations and countries.It should be said that Anarchism and its literature provided an idea and spiritual medium for modern cultural exchanges between China and Korea,and played an important role in the history of cultural exchanges in East Asia.Thirdly,from the perspective of the history of the Korean independence movement,modern Korean intellectuals and revolutionary patriots initially introduced and accepted Anarchism with the purpose of resisting imperialist aggression and achieving national liberation.Compared with China and Japan in East Asia,Anarchism in Korea has a strong nationalist tendency.This unique understanding of Anarchism is not only reflected in the revolutionary practice movement of Korean Anarchists,but also in their Anarchist literature.These literary works served as a discourse of resistance by Korean literati during this period against Japanese colonial aggression and cultural hegemony.They showed Korean Anarchists’imagination of the future nation and country,East Asia and the world,and had important value and significance in highlighting the Anarchism’s important role in the history of the modern Korean independence movement.In addition,while evaluating the positive significance of Anarchist literature,we should also see its weaknesses and shortcomings.Against the historical backdrop of suffering brutal oppression and colonial aggression from the Japanese Empire,Korean Anarchistic literati and Bolshevists launched literary and artistic debates,adhering to the philosophy of putting art first and politics second.Rather than substantively transforming current realistic art,they focused more on constructing and imagining anarchist future art.To a certain extent,this went against the mainstream discourse of the era of anti-imperialism and resistance to Japan,and reflected the limitations of Anarchist literature,as well as the limitations of Korean literature’s acceptance of Anarchism.In addition,Anarchism itself pursues the absolute freedom of individuals and opposes all external coercive factors.Therefore,it is difficult for the Anarchist literature and art camp to carry out writing work under unified guidance in an organized and planned manner like Marxist literature and art,and to maintain stable and continuous literary and artistic activities.This also resulted in the development of Anarchist literature being looser and shorter than other literary ideas,making it difficult to form a scale and climate.This also reflects the shortcomings and deficiencies of Korean modern Anarchist literature.In brief,Korean Anarchist literature,as a part of the modern Anarchistic movement in Korea,traces back and describes for us the glorious course of the Korean literati exploring a new road of national salvation,realizing national independence,national liberation,and building the ideal society in the future.The ideological concepts emphasized in it,such as opposition to all external power and authority,pursuit of individuality and freedom,people’s subjective consciousness and self-conscious spirit,and the creative instinct of life,have had a profound impact on the development of Korean literature and the modernization process.In short,the integral study of modern Korean Anarchist literature can not only comprehensively and objectively evaluate the value and status of Anarchism in the history of Korean literature,but also provide new possibilities for us to redraw the composition of modern Korean literature.